Category: 2. World

However, this is not the number of jets he said were shot down earlier. Last month, the Republican said five planes were downed during the conflict as “two serious nuclear countries” hit each other.

Like last time, this time too, Trump did not specify which country shot down how many jets. His fresh remarks on the subject come weeks after Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh confirmed that India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor, the military action targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Air Chief Marshal had said that the jets were shot down by the S-400 air defence systems, and called it the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill.

Apart from the five jets, one large Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) or early warning aircraft was also destroyed, he had said.

‘Was going to be a nuclear war’

Further, repeating his claim of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and “stopping” a nuclear war, Donald Trump said on Monday, “The war with India and Pakistan was the next level that was going to be a nuclear war… They already shot down 7 jets – that was raging.”

He again linked the truce between the two bordering nations to trade, saying he gave both countries 24 hours to settle the fight, threatening the US would withhold trade if they didn’t stop. “I said, ‘You want to trade? We are not doing any trade or anything with you if you keep fighting, you’ve got 24 hours to settle it’. They said, ‘Well, there’s no more war going on. ‘ I used that on numerous occasions. I used trade and whatever I had to use…” the Republican said.

Trump’s remarks on the India-Pak conflict are the latest in a series of such claims repeated multiple times, ever since the two countries reached an agreement on cessation of hostilities on May 10.

The truce was declared days after the launch of Operation Sindoor, launched to avenge the killing of 26 civilians in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

New Delhi has rejected Trump’s mediation claim several times in the past, asserting that ceasefire was reached after a call from Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) to their Indian counterpart. India maintains that the agreement was reached bilaterally, with no third-party intervention.

COLOMBO, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has continued to grow and expand over the past 24 years, reflecting inclusiveness as well as appeal and vitality, said Yasiru Ranaraja, a Sri Lankan international affairs expert and the founding director of the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, told Xinhua recently.

Ranaraja said the SCO, the world’s largest regional organization in terms of landmass and population, provides a reliable platform for promoting equal dialogue and solidarity in addressing regional issues. It also helps member states combat terrorism and boost economic growth, “which is crucial to strengthening regional security,” he added.

“We see out of SCO many countries want to join it as dialogue partners and members of the issue, which demonstrates the recognition of the organization by the international community,” Ranaraja noted.

According to him, the SCO offers a valuable platform for cooperation among Global South countries. At a time when the world is facing challenges such as geopolitical conflicts and protectionism, the SCO embodies “a fairer and more inclusive vision of regional governance.”

Sri Lanka is a dialogue partner of the SCO. Ranaraja said the country is seeking deeper engagement with the organization, especially in areas such as security, counterterrorism, supply chains, and port cooperation.

Sri Lanka attaches great importance to port development and hopes to align itself with regional trade integration efforts under the SCO, he said. Establishing a regional port cooperation platform will significantly reduce the country’s port operation and transshipment costs, while enhancing the competitiveness of regional trade, he added.■

As has now become the norm for journalists working in Gaza, Mariam Abu Dagga prepared her will despite being just 33 years old. She left behind two sets of instructions: to her colleagues, do not cry at her funeral; to her 13-year-old son, Ghaith, make her proud.

Despite her instructions, Dagga’s colleagues could not help but weep over her body on Monday. She was killed by Israel, alongside four other journalists, while rushing to check on a colleague struck by Israel in al-Nasser hospital, where she had often reported throughout the war in Gaza.

“Mariam had left us instructions not to cry for her when we bid her farewell. She wanted us to spend time with her body, speak to her and take our fill of her before she left,” said Samaheer Farhan, a 21-year-old freelance journalist and close friend of Dagga.

The 33-year-old photojournalist was an inspiring figure to Farhan and many other journalists in Gaza who admired her relentless reporting, despite the often deeply personal losses she suffered throughout the war.

Her rise to prominence as a journalist began with tragedy. She filmed the death of a protester who was shot during the 2018 Great March of Return in Gaza, where Israeli forces shot protesters marching towards the Gaza border fence, killing more than 220 people and wounding more than 9,200. She later discovered that the protester was her brother.

Dagga continued her work as a journalist during the war in Gaza over the last 22 months, working as a freelancer with the Associated Press and Independent Arabia.

Independent Arabia said that she was the “example of dedication and professional commitment”, and praised her for carrying “her camera into the heart of the field, conveying the suffering of civilians and the voices of victims with rare honesty and courage”.

Her photography and reporting highlighted the humanity of her subjects and focused on the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

Her photo of five-year-old Jamal al-Najjar, who died of malnutrition just weeks earlier, portrayed the child tenderly, his small body wrapped in a shroud and placed gently on bricks so that he did not touch the ground. Another photo showed dozens of men scrambling to get food from an aid truck in southern Gaza, a mess of bodies as they desperately compete for scarce aid.

To her colleagues, she was known also for her kindness and dedication.

“Mariam was kind, gentle and deeply passionate about her work. She had lost her mother and her closest colleague, Abu Anas, yet she never stopped covering the war for even a single day,” Farhan said.

They also described her as having a reputation for fearlessness, reporting from some of the most dangerous areas of Gaza.

Like other members of the Gaza press corps, she knew the danger of being a journalist in the Palestinian territory.

The war in Gaza has been the deadliest period ever for journalists, killing more than 192 Palestinian journalists since it began on 7 October, 2023.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Israel’s “broadcasted killing of journalists in Gaza”. Israel’s military, commenting on the killing of the five journalists on Monday, said that it “does not target journalists as such”.

Dagga had not seen her son in a year-and-a-half, after he had been evacuated to the UAE with his father.

“She longed to see and embrace her son again. Mariam died with that dream still unfulfilled, to hold her child once more,” Farhan said.

To her son Ghaith, Dagga left behind her wishes that he always grow up to fulfil his dreams.

“I want you to make me proud to become successful and excel, to prove yourself and to grow into a great businessman, my dear,” she wrote in a letter to her son. “When you grow up, get married and have a daughter, name her Mariam after me. You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul and my son whom I am proud of.”

US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that the Gaza war will reach a “conclusive ending” in the next two or three weeks, saying that there was a serious “diplomatic push” underway to end the nearly two-year conflict.

“I think within the next two to three weeks, you’re going to have pretty good, conclusive — a conclusive ending,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

What Trump based his prediction on was unclear, given that Israel has indicated it is not interested in the phased ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to last week. Rather, the Israeli government has instead been moving ahead with plans to conquer Gaza City, which is expected to take at least several months.

Trump has repeatedly used a “two-week” timeline to predict when major developments will unfold, both at home and abroad —from the Russia-Ukraine war, to Iranian nuclear negotiations, to talks on tariffs — though it has often not held up. Earlier in the summer, Trump repeatedly predicted an imminent deal to free hostages that did not materialize.

He appeared to hedge Monday’s prediction regarding the Gaza war: “It’s a hard thing to say because they’ve been fighting for thousands of years. But I think we’re doing a very good job,” he said. “But it does have to end, but people can’t forget October 7,” the date of the 2023 Hamas-led massacre of some 1,200 people that launched the war

Trump’s comments come as pressure has mounted within Israel for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a temporary ceasefire. Earlier this month, following Israel’s decision to move forward with the conquest of Gaza City, Hamas accepted a proposed agreement that would see 10 living hostages exchanged for Palestinian security prisoners during a 60-day truce that could be extended to a second phase if the sides agreed to terms on a permanent ceasefire.

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly said this week that “there is a [hostage] deal on the table, we need to take it.” And in recent days, centrist MK Benny Gantz has called on fellow opposition party leaders to join Netanyahu’s government in order to accept the deal and sideline Netanyahu’s far-right partners — though other centrist Netanyahu opponents have rejected that idea.

On Tuesday, relatives of the 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are due to hold a day of protests aimed at ramping up pressure for their release. Israel believes at least 20 of the captives are alive, though, in separate remarks earlier on Monday, Trump said the number was lower.

Israel’s security cabinet is reportedly slated to meet on Tuesday, though there are conflicting reports over whether it will focus on discussing the ceasefire proposal or the Gaza City conquest plan.

Following Trump’s prediction of the war’s end, a reporter asked the president whether the US was engaging in diplomacy toward that goal.

“There has been… a very serious diplomatic push,” Trump responded. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also in the room, added that one of the conditions for the end of the war was Hamas no longer leading Gaza — which is also one of Israel’s key demands.

“It [has] never stopped. We’ve always looked to find a solution. We want it to end. [But] it has to end with no Hamas,” Rubio said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as Vice President JD Vance listens during a meeting between President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office of the White House, August 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Netanyahu on Monday indicated that the planned offensive was still the priority, saying that his security cabinet’s decision to order the military to take over Gaza City in the coming months was “unequivocal.”

“Israel will act with determination and strength to bring back all of its hostages and to defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu told US Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa in his Jerusalem office, his office said in a statement.

Netanyahu also told Ernst, a Republican whom he previously hosted in April, that “these missions are intertwined.”

US Sentator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), left, and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on August 25, 2025. (Haim Zach / GPO)

In addition, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led American efforts to broker a hostage deal, repeated his claim that a social media post by Trump last week, declaring that the remaining hostages will only be freed after Hamas has been destroyed, is what sparked recent movement in ceasefire negotiations.

“We wouldn’t be anywhere but for the president’s truth last week, which was a statement to Hamas that they better get their act together and get to the peace table,” Witkoff said in the Oval Office.

However, two Arab diplomats familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel that Hamas had already approved the latest ceasefire proposal by the time Trump posted on Truth Social on August 18.

The US, like Israel, has yet to say whether it backs the latest proposal accepted by Hamas, which the Arab diplomats said is nearly identical to the one proposed by Witkoff several months ago after Egypt and Qatar succeeded in coaxing Hamas to walk back from demands it made in late July that led talks to stall.

The White House said last week that it was reviewing the proposal, but has yet to follow up on the matter. Israel, which is proceeding with the Gaza City offensive, has also not taken a position on the deal.

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, August 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP/ Evan Vucci)

Trump was also asked whether he has been in contact with Netanyahu lately, against the backdrop of a UN-backed report declaring that famine has begun striking Gaza.

Trump said he has a good relationship with the Israeli premier and that they worked together to strike Iran’s nuclear program.

“Right now, they’re talking about Gaza City. They’re always talking about something,” he said. “At some point, it’s going to get settled… You better get it settled soon.”

“With that being said, it’s got to get over with because between the hunger and all the other problems — worse than hunger, death, pure death, people being killed,” Trump said.

The president also reiterated his claim that the US has donated $60 million for Gaza humanitarian aid. The US State Department confirmed two weeks ago that the figure is actually $30 million and that only half of that figure had been transferred for use by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Hundreds of people have been shot dead surrounding the foundation’s distribution sites, whose perimeters are patrolled by the IDF. The IDF has acknowledged firing “warning shots” around the crowds but says the death tolls are inflated, without providing figures of its own.

US President Donald Trump said that seven jets shot down during Pakistan-India conflict in May. He took credit for preventing what he described as a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Trump said the situation in South Asia was “raging” when fighter jets were shot down during the brief war in May.

“The war with India and Pakistan was the next level that was going to be a nuclear war… They already shot down seven jets,” he told reporters. “I said, ‘You want to trade? We are not doing any trade or anything with you if you keep fighting, you’ve got 24 hours to settle it’. They said, ‘Well, there’s no more war going on’.”

Trump claimed that his use of tariffs and trade pressure was decisive. “I had tariffs and trade, and I was able to say, ‘If you go fight and want to kill everybody, that is okay, but I am going to charge you each a 100% tariff when you trade with us’. They all gave up,” he said.

The president has repeatedly said that he was responsible for brokering a ceasefire on May 10, which Washington announced after what he called “a long night” of talks. Since then, he has claimed dozens of times that he “helped settle” the tensions.

In June, an Indian defence official admitted that the country’s air force “lost some aircraft” on the night of May 7, after launching strikes on civilian sites in Pakistan during the four-day conflict. Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s defence attaché, made the acknowledgement at a seminar in Indonesia, Indian media reported.

The US president’s escalation comes despite a 90-day pause on increased tariffs that has already been agreed, and as negotiations between the world’s two largest economies loom.

United States President Donald Trump has said that China must give the US more magnets or “we have to charge them 200 percent tariff or something” amid a trade dispute between the two nations.

The US president made the claim to reporters on Monday.

China is increasingly sensitive about rare earth elements and its control over their supply, adding several rare earth items and magnets to its export restriction list in April in retaliation for tariff hikes by the US.

Beijing represents 90 percent of the global magnet market, which is critical to key products, including semiconductor chips used in products like smartphones.

The remarks come after the US announced a 10 percent stake in Intel, one of the world’s largest semiconductor chipmakers, which rely on rare earth materials for their products.

China’s exports of rare earth minerals surged in July, with data from the General Administration of Customs showing imports of rare earth ore rose by more than 4,700 tonnes compared to June.

The US president’s comments come amid the ongoing tariff standoff between the world’s two largest economies, which had shown signs of easing earlier this month. President Trump signed an executive order extending a 90-day deadline on tariffs against Chinese goods, allowing more time for negotiations.

Had the order not been signed, tariffs would have jumped to 145 percent. In May, the two countries had agreed on 30 percent US tariffs, while dropping levies to 10 percent, down from 125 percent.